Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Kids, Cold, and Camping

We went camping this last weekend with the triathlon team I'm coaching for Team in Training. The idea was to camp out at the lake site and let the team members swim in the lake and bike and run on the actual race course. At the last moment, my hubby couldn't make it, so the kids knew they were pretty much along for the ride with me and that my attention would be divided. And yes, it was also unseasonably cold for June. As we drove through snow (snow!!!) to get to the camp site, I think we were all wondering what we were in for.

Still, the camp site was right on the lake, and my kids are old enough now for that not to be the hazard it would've been when they were younger (and Asa would plunge pell-mell into any body of water, regardless of whether she could stand up or swim or not). And best of all, it had a loop! Luckily, my hubby had found a great hitch rack and installed it on the van, so we could bring the triathlon bikes plus both of the kids' bikes along. I have so many fond memories of camping as a kid, riding our bikes around and around the campground loop, it just gives me such a warm and fuzzy feeling to watch our kids doing the same. Yes, it was cold, but they donned hats under their helmets and warm gloves and I joked that they logged more miles than the 28 that the triathlon team members put in on Saturday.

And, being kids, the cold just doesn't seem to faze them the same way it does us thinner-skinned adults. Remember swimming in the ocean as a kid? And urging your mom to come on in, it really wasn't that cold? Ha! Now I'm the cold weanie and my kids are out there in bathing suits while I'm donning my neoprene. I love this photo of the team ensconced in their thick insulated suits while in the background, check out the kids! By the way, the water temperature measured in at 52 degrees near the shore. Brrrrrr! As for me, having a full wetsuit actually allows me to play in the water with my kids and not get too cold, a nice side-effect of having that triathlon gear.

Sunday was actually sunny and feeling pretty warm at 65 degrees, the kids and I hung out in the campground while the team ran. Asa built fairy houses out of sticks, and Mackenzie spent an hour observing an ant's nest and putting various food articles next to it to see what they would do with them. All in all, a childhood's weekend idyll. Well, except for the cold.